There is an ancient Chinese proverb that says "Women hold up half the sky". While the share of skies is undetermined, worldwide women hold up half of the government only in Andorra and Rwanda. Besides those two, the statistic appears to be imbalanced in the world of foreign policy. As of May 2013, women accounted for only 27% of senior ministers in national governments in the EU, and in 38 countries globally women account for less than ten percent of parliamentarians. The few who do manage to make it are constantly subjected to rude comments, extra judgment, and pressure to resign their posts to look after their families. While Hillary Clinton gave a speech at a rally during her campaign, one enthusiast in the crowd remarked "Iron my shirt!" …show more content…
These examples clearly demonstrate the current situation of women working in international policy fields. Thus, there is an underrepresentation of women in foreign policy positions due to the presence of misogyny and sexism, a lack of quality training and mentoring, and the traditional role of parenthood falling upon women. The absence of formal mentoring programs and quality training leads to women missing out on opportunities to help them advance in the field of foreign policy. A multitude of firms and institutions operating within the international relations sector do not provide the opportunity for women to participate in formal training or mentoring programs and workshops. Such programs are essential as they help promote the business development, and the further development of leadership skills of women working for these companies and institutions. This connection between quality mentoring and personal development has been made by various institutions over the past, and includes foreign policy top dogs such as the European Union. The EU has acknowledged the necessity of the implementations of such programs in order to achieve gender equality in elected office. The OSCE (Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe) drafted up a …show more content…
Women are often judged on their femininity rather than their potential and skills within the workplace. The media and fellow politicians alike focus on details such as their emotional composure and sartorial choices, rather than on their policies and leadership. This leads to the creation of a double standard that sets the tone for women in the field. In the aftermath of the disaster at the American embassy in Benghazi, Hillary Clinton was called to give a testimony in court about the events. When the exchange became heated, the New York Post ran a cover of her yelling with a raised, clenched fist under the mocking headline "No Wonder Bill's Afraid!". Many women in foreign policy encounter this issue at some point in their career, being called out on how passionate they decide to be. Any emotion women choose to show has been used against them time and time again, becoming a stand-in on why women are supposedly unfit to lead. The slow transition to more stoic characters has become a form of protection for all women in politics, essential for their growing image. In turn, this leads to them being perceived as cold and heartless, summed up in the quote by Glenn Beck that women like Clinton are "stereotypical b*tch(es)", and that after a potential presidency of four years "every man in America (would) go
On September 5, 1995 Hillary Rodham Clinton delivered a speech to the United Nations 4th World Conference during a Women Plenary Session, located in Beijing, China. Clinton spoke about how women around the world were not treated equally, how women rights should be equal to human rights, and the ghastly abuse and discrimination women faced around the world. The reason for the conference was to strengthen women, families, and societies in order to empower women to taking control of their lives and not be subject to such discrimination. She emphasized how education, health care, jobs, and political rights were not equal between genders and that the world needed to change. Clinton gave a very convincing speech because of her use of rhetorical techniques. The use of pathos, ethos, logos, and anaphora created a powerful, persuasive argument against the way women were treated around the world. Clintons main goal of this speech was to appeal to the audience and convince them that this is unequal treatment is an immense matter and needs to be addressed all over the world.
The article by Laura McEnaney titled Gender Analysis and Foreign Relations is an interesting article focused on a relatively new type of analysis that offers another angle in the world of policymaking. The diplomatic historians who use gender analysis use it in addition to the customary methodologies of the historian to enhance the historian’s studies. Gender analysis has inspired new investigations in the history of men and women and diplomacy, giving way to a new type of understanding of power in a historical context; however gender analysis “enters diplomatic history only through the aegis of culture.”
When asking the question, “What are the differences between men and women?” what things come into mind? When asking friends what their thoughts were they stated things such as men are stronger, women are weaker, men are bigger, women are smaller, men make more money, etc. Due to the obvious assumptions that people have been making for centuries it is thought by some Americans that males are the dominant sex. Before watching Miss Representation I had always gotten so upset at certain men for the way they treated women or the things they would say to them. After this film I realized that their actions might have stemmed from “rules” that they were taught an early age; those rules being the rules of masculinity. After reviewing the rules it finally clicked to me why
Hillary’s credibility does not get call into question when she says she has been working in the case “Over the past 25 years, I have worked persistently on issues relating to women, children, and families” this is the way she knows a lot about women and their necessities “I/ve had the opportunity to learn more about the challenges facing women in my country and around the world”
Hillary Clinton’s speech “Women Rights” transmitted a crucial message to the world and that was to do something about gender inequality. Pathos helped transmit an emotional appeal to the audience and make them see the soft side of Clinton.
One strategy she uses to connect herself with her audience is giving her audience a lot of credit and respect. She often assumes she knows what they want, and that what they want is what she is offering to give. When speaking on her husband and the Lewinsky sex scandal, Hillary Clinton makes it seem as if the American people are above discussing such immature topics as the affair and the allegations, and that they instead are interested in the State of the Union Address.
The goal of Hillary’s speech is to persuade her audience that her ideas are valid, by using ethos, pathos, and logos. Hillary is the First Lady and Senator, she shows credibility as an influential activist for woman rights. “Over the past 25 years, I have worked persistently on issues relating to women, children, and families. Over the past two and a half years, I’ve had the opportunity to learn more about the challenges facing women in my country and around the world” (Clinton 2).
During her early life, Hillary Clinton learned that a huge problem across the globe was gender inequality. Women and men were not equal. Men were making more money than women for the same jobs. She believed she could change this. On September 5, 1995 Hillary Clinton gave a speech at the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women. Clinton uses powerful rhetoric in order to create an air of sympathy for women among her audience. She is hoping to make the world become more aware of the inequalities women face daily while also making them feel ashamed for their previous actions of discriminating women, which would cause them to change their ways. She uses her speech “Women’s Rights Are Human Rights” to create awareness of the discrimination
Wilson, Marie C. Closing the Leadership Gap Why Women Can and Must Help Run the World. New York: Viking Adult, 2004. Print
While women were traditionally largely responsible for child care and managing the household, men were more concerned with earning the money in order to support their families. Moreover, it is has been a widely held view, especially by male politicians, that women were not capable of evaluating political matters because they were too emotional and thus, don’t have the required powerfulness (Monique Leijenaar, 1997). Nevertheless, women’s status and integration in the political decision making process has improved continuously since most western-countries introduced women’s right to vote. Consequently, in some of these states women’s underrepresentation is not a numerical problem anymore; instead it is only a problem of the representation of their interests and values on the political agenda. This can be illustrated by the example of Denmark where women have a majority in six councils. However, women should be given more power in order to create a world in which power is exercised equitably for the benefit of
...ntries women are restricted in where they can and cannot work. Most commonly, they seem to be restricted from jobs in which physically taxing tasks are the norm. This is no doubt due to the stereotype that women are fragile and weak and must be protected (a stereotype that can hold true, but that is not always true). This also seems to be consistent across culture. However, despite the fact that these restrictions were enacted to protect women, they place heavy limitations on women’s opportunities. Furthermore, these are not the only injustices many women across the world face. However, the only way to fight these injustices is to increase women’s participation in politics, as discussed in the UN report from 2008. It is absolutely vital that women be able to actively participate in politics without letting gender discrimination and stereotypes get in the way.
Clinton is the former First Lady of the United States, Secretary of State, and United States Senator. Merkel and Clinton are two women who are making a positive difference around the world as evidenced by the strong visible networks. Another example is Angela Merkel making a positive difference in the world by strengthening the transatlantic dimension while maintaining the relationships with Vladimir Putin and Jacques Chirac (Muller-Harlin). Another example is Hillary Clinton making a positive difference in the world by advancing the United States interest and political issues while pushing women’s issues (Goudreau). Clinton is holding the number four American power position as Secretary of State in the United States. Women are becoming more visible in politics all around the world. For example, people are joining the Red Cross and making a difference around the world. Women are helping to build strong economies that work for all. Women are building strong visible networks around the world as they stand up for what their community want. Women are speaking up to share the concerns of their neighbors, schools, and civic groups. Women are the voices demanding justice, equality, and opportunity. Merkel and Clinton have effective leadership skills. Strong visible networks demonstrate the effective leadership skills of
Discrimination, gender and disrespecting their autonomy in the workplace is an issue that women who wish to become leaders encounter excessively. The glass ceiling, which depicts a figurative barrier, has prevented women from excelling in their careers for many years. Along with work/life balance, opportunities to gain training and development skills and little to no mentoring for women who wish to climb the career ladder, women are unable to grow into leadership positions, garner respect and maintain successful in their roles. Literature Review Watson (2015) determined that women continue to have challenges progressively climbing the career ladder. While women are gaining support politically, the Pew Research states that the public and private sectors still lack
Involving more women in International Relations could be a better influence for the world and have positive results, but only if both genders agree. For Feminist theorists, it is difficult to find why it has been so complicated for gender equality to exist in international relations because it is just something that cannot be measured.
My mother has always promoted sisterhood and support for women. Growing up, I was taught that women, although we can do anything we want to do, need a support system, because we are traditionally the underdogs, and we should not accept being treated unfairly. My mother likes to tell a story about how, when she was a girl, she told her dad that she had decided to become a lawyer when she grew up. In response to her proclamation, my grandfather, an attorney himself, asked, "Isn’t that an awfully expensive education for a girl?"